KBC Group NV Grows Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,479,867 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,834 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $196,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 4.8%

NYSE MRK opened at $90.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $225.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.47.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.